Wednesday, March 4, 2009

I've Got a Bike, You Can Ride It If You Like

I've got a bikeYou can ride it if you likeIt's got a basketA bell that ringsAnd things to make it look goodI'd give it to you if I couldBut I borrowed it

My friend Craig rides a bike exclusively. He has no car. He uses no public transportation. Just his bike. I find this very interesting.

I don't like bikes. I've been hit by a car on a bike. I'm not comfortable on a bike. I am scared of bikes. I compete in adventure races that include biking. Some people find this interesting.

I've got two adventure races coming up. One's in March. One's in April. I should get reacquainted with my nemesis. Face my fears. Ride a bike.

My friend Jamie has a bike. He is my bike dealer. He lets me borrow his bike. I borrowed his bike on Sunday.

I rode the bike to work on Monday. My friend Craig mapped out the safest route. There are streets with bike lanes almost all the way. The distance is ten miles.

I was nervous. I did fine. I did not crash. It took 54 minutes to get to work. It would have taken less time if I didn't stop to text my spouse Pat every 20 minutes.

My spouse Pat is paranoid. He thinks that girls who are scared of bikes shouldn't ride them in traffic. I told him I'd text him to let him know I was safe. I did this so he wouldn't worry. He left his phone at home and didn't get my texts.

My friend Craig told me that there are spots in the city that cars can't go. He says these spots give a cyclist a sense of exclusionary entitlement. One spot was on my route. I enjoy exclusionary entitlement. I took a picture of it.My friend Jamie has a friend named Andy. The friend named Andy is a sumo-wrestler. He rides on the bike's handlebars. He says "squeaky squeaky" when you squeeze his buns. There is some controversy over his name. The friend named Andy might be named Sammy. But he told me it was Andy. He was a good travel companion.My friend Jamie's bike spent the day in my office. I didn't want to lock it up outside. It might have gotten stolen. And it's not my bike. That would have sucked.I thought about taking the light rail home. I did not. I rode the bike the whole way home. It took 47 minutes.